🌹 Adi Shankara

 

taught that the Self (Atman) is inherently self-luminous, existing as pure Awareness, but this inherent light is obscured by ignorance (avidya) and mind. He countered the idea of cognition illuminating itself, stating it would be a reflexivity fallacy, much like a knife cannot cut itself. True illumination comes from the Self's intrinsic luminosity, which reveals the world and the non-duality of Brahman and Atman when ignorance is removed, similar to the sun shining when clouds disperse. 🌹